The three-ball has arguably become the basis of scoring in the NBA – so we decided to take some shots downtown too. Here, fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus will look at three things fantasy managers need to know. Or he will divide various advice, analysis and more into three points – it just depends on how open he is from Deep.
At the end of each fantasy basketball season, I focus on understanding the specific players and decisions that worked (or didn’t work) throughout the season – all in an effort to evolve my strategy heading into next year. But instead of getting too deep, here are three high-level takeaways from the 2023-2024 NBA campaign.
Save those FAB dollars for the playoffs
Fantasy basketball is a 20+ week slog, and if you make the playoffs, you’re going to need some bread to carry you the rest of the way. I consciously decided to save about $20 for the start of the postseason, and it wasn’t enough. When I arrived at the championship, my opponent had $65 to my $10. I was outbid on almost every transaction attempt during the last week of the season and was crushed.
Having money during silly season is critical to executing your end-of-season strategy. Saving your FAB puts you in a strong position to pick up high-value assets abandoned in desperation or snap up players who can raise the quality of games on lighter slate days.
If you’re like me, you probably regret spending too much on some of the guys who got waivers. I remember spending $29 on Bennedict Mathurin – thinking he would turn things around, but he definitely didn’t. That was too much for any player, so I will be more selective and frugal with my spending next season.
Lesson learned: I’m saving at least $60 by going to the Playoffs next season.
The NBA’s New 65-Game Rule Was Great (For Fantasy)
What was formally presented as the Player Participation Policy (PPP), there was a lot of discussion about whether it would work (for the record, I was not a fan). According to Sportico, “between the 2017-18 and 2022-23 seasons, the number of cases in which a star player played in one consecutive game but not the other (excluding multi-game injuries and game 82) nearly doubled (from 47 to 88). ” These are very discouraging numbers when playmakers are essential to fantasy basketball.
This year, Adam Silver reported that the number of star players missed games was reduced by 15%. So even though I initially hated the PPP agenda, it ended up working.
Fantasy managers have noticed a notable shift in veteran participation. Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Paul George, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Zion Williamson have played more than 65 games this season. While some have battled injuries to meet the 65-game requirement, Fantasy managers have seen a big difference in the values of many players above due to their availability.
There will always be a place for load management because with players being the league’s primary revenue generators, putting health first is paramount. Still, increased injury reporting and transparency can make the product more trustworthy, and we’re getting closer to that becoming the new norm.
Signing frequently injured players like AD, Kawhi and Embiid will always carry some risk, but the 65-game limit at least adds some motivation for stars seeking All-NBA recognition and player awards.
Lesson learned: A game limit instituted at the league level is good for the league, especially for fantasy basketball players.
Adding at least 1 IL+ spot is mandatory for all leagues
Pulling the load management thread even further, fantasy managers in daily leagues must analyze many injury reports to compete. With so many sporadic and random absences in the NBA every night, using the IL+ function allows fantasy managers to readily trade players with any injury designation (questionable, doubtful, probable) or short-term absence. Flexibility in this era of fantasy basketball is a game changer. I implore all fantasy basketball commissioners and higher powers (wink, wink) to make IL+ a default setting before next season.
Lesson learned: Make IL+ a part of your league settings. How many vacancies? Well, that’s still up for debate.
